Another "Maybe Moving to MPLS Help Me" Thread. :)

[mr roboto]

2s and 3s in Roseville schools? Seems drastic. Robinsdale probably.

If you are willing to look farther out, consider Carver, Jordan, St Michael, etc.

You can find 20 acres within an hour commute (but probably not for 200k).

[ellysbelly]

Originally Posted by Noodlenoggin

First, I want to say thank you! Second, I am amazed that every response has been thoughtful and helpful --rare stuff on an internet forum.

We looked at the towns mentioned, and the schools come back with angry red 2's and 3's. That concerns me...should it?

I'm not too concerned with small town mentality...truth be told, my wife and I are small town people. I grew up on a horse farm. Ideally I'd love to have 20 acres of woods to ride a quad in, but I know that's not happening within a commute to MPLS. But, I get what you're saying about appearing weird for commuting from the outback.

Also, I DO know what a winter commute is like...I've lived 35 of my 45 years in Michigan, 10 of it in northern Michigan. There were years I was on my way to work at 5am, before the plows were out, in my Chevy sedan. Bleh, good times.

If you haven't already, please be sure look at each elementary school and middle school within the school district-- there's a lot of 'unevenness' in some of those close in and more affordable 'burbs. Some schools might be a 7-8, with others at a 2-3.

One other thing to note about schools is that you can "open enroll" your kids into virtually any school in the state (as long as you provide transportation-- or deliver them to a bus stop within the school district)-- there are some schools that are closed to open enrollment, but the vast majority are open.

Additionally, there are a good number of charter schools that might be options. Yes, I realize, that that isn't the same as living in a great school district and having your kids attend neighborhood schools, but it does provide some options that you might not have considered.

[mn55110]

When comparing schools, I like using the website schooldigger.com because they use student performance data and actual rankings instead of just parental and student opinions.

I prefer school digger over greatschools.

[BryaninMSP]

Originally Posted by Noodlenoggin

So, we may be moving to the Twin Cities this spring from Tampa. I just had a 2nd interview with Hennepin County Medical Center and it seemed to go pretty well. (I'm an IT guy.) We're a large family with four kids, pets, etc. We're kinda moderate-liberal, nothing left-wing or anything. I want to keep my guns, but think social programs are a good thing. We both grew up in the country in Michigan, and we liked the north suburbs of Atlanta when we lived there in the 90's, and we don't really like the (anything) about Tampa where we live now.

I've pored over Zillow and Realtor.com and have a decent idea where I can find houses in our price range -- which is not much over $200k. Yes, I understand that's the bottom end of the market. I'm looking at -- to name some examples in a ring around the city -- Apple Valley, Rosemount, Lakeville, Farmington, Prior Lake, Shakopee, Buffalo, Otsego, Ramsey, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake. Maybe Red Wing. No, I'm no stranger to a long commute.

Welcome! My wife and I moved back home to Minnesota a couple years ago after six years in Michigan. I think if you were happy with the schools in Michigan, you'll be perfectly happy with any district here rated above a 5. So many of the rating sites are focused solely on test scores and don't take into account free-and-reduced lunch, English as a second language, etc. As you found in Michigan, even a "poorly rated" school can be excellent. It all depends on the teachers. In general, our schools are excellent.

I'm going to throw out New Brighton, as you can occasionally find a steal under $200k, the school district is one of the best in the Twin Cities, and the housing stock is mature and generally not cookie-cutter. Big, old trees are common. Commute to downtown Minneapolis is next to nothing (my brother-in-law commuted from New Brighton to HCMC in 15 minutes, was more like 25-30 in traffic).

Coon Rapids isn't bad, and there are good homes in your budget, but the commute would be longer. You might also want to investigate Champlin and the section of Brooklyn Park that's in the Anoka-Hennepin school district (though a lot of that will be cookie-cutter suburbia).

Good luck!

[cathedralhill1]

Great Schools used to actually give schools group-specific ratings. My son attends a low-rated school overall, but the school was a 9 for white kids (still is, just not without the great schools seal of approval). It was based on test score data and I wish they would bring it back since it gave a realistic idea of what those numbers really mean.

[JamieKaiser]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

You will want to take Buffalo, Otsego, Ramsey, Forest Lake, and Red Wing off your list. These are not cities that people commute to downtown Minneapolis from. You may think you're good with a long commute, but you have no idea how awful a commute from those places would be, especially in a snowstorm or when the roads are icy.

The other thing to consider is if you move to one of these places and tell you neighbors that you're commuting to Minneapolis, they'll think you're weird. It's not going to help your social integration if people think you're weird. Not that you'd have much time for things like socializing but you get the idea. Don't be weird, move closer in.

Hey! I live in Buffalo and there are plenty of people that drive east for work in the morning. Although, I wouldn't necessarily recommend commuting downtown each day it is possible.

[SWCM7950]

Originally Posted by Noodlenoggin

I know, I know...the same questions everybody asks. I've spent a week or so searching the forum and finding almost the answers I'm looking for. So I apologize in advance for the War and Peace that this post is.

So, we may be moving to the Twin Cities this spring from Tampa. I just had a 2nd interview with Hennepin County Medical Center and it seemed to go pretty well. (I'm an IT guy.) We're a large family with four kids, pets, etc. We're kinda moderate-liberal, nothing left-wing or anything. I want to keep my guns, but think social programs are a good thing. We both grew up in the country in Michigan, and we liked the north suburbs of Atlanta when we lived there in the 90's, and we don't really like the (anything) about Tampa where we live now.

I've pored over Zillow and Realtor.com and have a decent idea where I can find houses in our price range -- which is not much over $200k. Yes, I understand that's the bottom end of the market. I'm looking at -- to name some examples in a ring around the city -- Apple Valley, Rosemount, Lakeville, Farmington, Prior Lake, Shakopee, Buffalo, Otsego, Ramsey, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake. Maybe Red Wing. No, I'm no stranger to a long commute.

Anyway, I have questions.

The schools. I've been looking at all the 1-10 ratings on Zillow. I grew up in Michigan, and the school my kids went to before we moved away was rated "5" and it was really great, just poor. I live in Florida now, and the "10" rated schools are not quite as good as the "5" school we left in Michigan...and the "2" rated schools here feature teachers that don't teach, drug deals, gangs, half-naked girls and constant theft.

In general, how good/bad is a 5-rated school? Are the "bad" schools actually bad...or just poor, or have low test scores but great teachers?

The attitude. We lived for 3 years here in the "good" Tampa suburb of Fishhawk, and it lived up to every bad stereotype of suburbia that I've ever read. Snobby, arrogant, closed-minded, uber-conservative, racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, flashy, keep-up-with-the-Joneses, xenophobic...ugh! The neighborhood we've lived in for the past two years isn't as much like that...but our next-door neighbors don't talk to us, and when our kids go outside, theirs go inside.

Are any of the neighborhoods I listed above like this? Are any of the neighborhoods I listed actually friendly, and might provide us a chance to get to know our neighbors?

The commute. I'd be commuting to downtown MPLS every day for work. I've read commute times here, and I'm currently driving 45 minutes to go 18 miles in Tampa. Are any of the neighborhoods I listed better/worse for commutes? I'd take a bit longer commute if it's easier/less stressful. And how easily could I use mass transit from those neighborhoods? I'd be open to that.

The scenery. We'd really like a neighborhood that's a bit older, with mature trees and houses with a bit of character...not so much a new house that takes up as much space on its lot as possible....15' from the house next-door, which looks exactly the same as mine, etc. Any of the above fit that? Or does my price ceiling doom me to boring, bland suburbia. I see lots of 1970's tri-levels and bi-levels in my range on Zillow.

Crime. I'm assuming all of the places I've mentioned are pretty safe and crime-free? There's really noplace in Tampa I feel unsafe getting out of the car in the daylight. And I kinda base my view of cities on Detroit, which is...well, Detroit. "Welcome to Detroit, here's your Kevlar."

So, if anyone can make any sense out of this rambling monologue of a post, can you offer me any answers or advice?

You're probably more liberal than you let on, If so don't move to a conservative area and you should be alright. Outside of the twin cities MN is pretty conservative in many aspects. Suburbs by their very nature are xenophobic, conservative etc. It's what keeps them nice and safe hence your reference to Detroit People tend to self segregate if left to their own volition. Nothing wrong with that.

[northsub]

Originally Posted by JamieKaiser

Hey! I live in Buffalo and there are plenty of people that drive east for work in the morning. Although, I wouldn't necessarily recommend commuting downtown each day it is possible.

Yeah, no one is going to think it's at all unusual that someone in any of the places mentioned works in Minneapolis. In fact, Minneapolis is one of the top 3 cities for employment of residents of all of the places mentioned. I'd prefer to live closer to work, but that's a preference thing.

An area the OP might consider is Circle Pines/Lexington and the surrounding parts of Blaine. Housing is cheap (probably almost literally cookie-cutter in some places but 50 years old), there are mature trees, good access to a slick park and ride to downtown Minneapolis (95th ave park and ride), schools are going to be solid to good (the lowest greatschools score I'm seeing is 7). I'd worry for the OP that it's not going to be overwhelmingly liberal (more relatively poor and blue collar, voted 50-52% for Obama in 2012 for reference). A driving commute down 35W might also be frustrating due to traffic.

I also wonder if most IT jobs are in the southwest metro which might be a factor to consider in case you change jobs later.

[Noodlenoggin]

Again, thank you everyone!